MELAKA: THE MELAKA police chief has every angle covered in his aim to rid the state under his watch of vice dens.

It will not solely be the criminal investigation department’s, particularly its “D7” (Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies) division’s task, to tackle the issue that had thrust the state into the negative limelight again.

The state’s Special Branch, Datuk Abdul Jalil Hassan said, would be largely involved in addressing the scourge.

Intelligence gleaned by the Special Branch, he said, would be critical for the state police in its mission to eradicate vice and gambling in the state.

Jalil vowed that he would act on his men who had been protecting vice and gambling dens, adding that it would just be a matter of time before they were smoked out.

Jalil, who was once Bukit Aman’s D7 principal assistant director, said he also wanted to work closer with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in cleaning up his state of rogue cops who had been “protecting” syndicates running illicit businesses, including gambling and massage parlours as a front for prostitution.

On Tuesday, MACC smashed a protection racket suspected of having, for a while now, shielded such syndicates, with the arrest of seven police officers, including two district police chiefs.

“If there was a protection racket that involved police officers, consider it torn down.

“Details from the MACC’s investigations would pinpoint the exact vice dens that were being protected ... but we won’t just wait for that.

“The state police, with its own intelligence machinery, will gather all the information required to bring them down.

“We have the data on the extent of such activities and they will be brought down,” said Jalil.

Currently under MACC’s remand are the Jasin and Melaka Tengah district police chiefs, along with three inspectors from both districts.

One of them was from the state police headquarters and another, a corporal from the Melaka Tengah District police headquarters, who was remanded yesterday after graft busters found a whopping RM800,000 in his house. They seized the money.

Also nabbed in relation to the case were three civilians. All 10 suspects have been remanded for six days.

Jalil, who began duties as the state police chief on Jan 5, welcomed the MACC crackdown on rogue policemen and assured that the state police was with the commission in weeding out the scourge.

He, however, would not comment on allegations that a former district police chief could have been transferred out after refusing to be part of the corrupt protection racket that shielded vice dens.

“It is not on my level to comment on this, but this might not be true as all transfers within the police force are determined by the headquarters in Bukit Aman,” said Jalil.

“At the state police headquarters, we are notified of all transfers, which we then vet and monitor. The state or district police do not determine the transfers of officers.”

Jalil called on policemen tempted by the gains of being corrupt to take time to “do some soul searching”.

“Within the force there is a machinery to take care of their welfare.

“We even constantly go down to the ground to look into how their welfare can be improved.

“It goes to the extent of supporting their children’s education... there is absolutely no reason for policemen to be involved in graft.

“We will cooperate with the MACC at all levels to ensure the force is clean.”